Movie variety show soul travels between two worlds to become a rich man

Chapter 886 Beneath the Zhengyang Gate: A Cartload of Treasures

"Hey, Uncle Pian'er is here—"

Gao Dongxu followed Pian'erye into the small tavern with only one table of customers, and immediately heard a pleasant voice greeting him with a smile.

Gao Dongxu saw Xu Huizhen, the female owner of the tavern, standing high behind the counter with a sweet smile on her face, and couldn't help but sigh. This young woman was indeed charming, no wonder so many men were interested in her.

However, Xu Huizhen was truly unlucky. Her husband cheated on her with his younger sister, she gave birth on a snowy day and was abandoned. A few days later, her father-in-law also died, leaving her with no parents. Her life was truly miserable.

It's said that God was fair enough to give her a good brain, a natural talent for business! She made money off her family's ancestral tavern.

Later, she opened hotels, went into tourism, traded antiques, made mobile phones, established a conglomerate, and became a female tycoon.

To be honest, despite the ups and downs, this is still quite an extraordinary life.

However, Xu Huizhen had already married Cai Quanwu at this time. Of course, even if she hadn't married him, Gao Dongxu wasn't very interested in her, mainly because he wasn't attracted to her looks.

"Shopkeeper, I'm really sorry about that." Pianye walked to the counter with an apologetic look on his face and said with an embarrassed smile.

"Alright, it's all in the past, let's not talk about it anymore." Xu Huizhen said with a smile, but her smiling, charming eyes were fixed on Gao Dongxu, who was tall, well-built, dressed in work clothes, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, her eyes shining.

"Master Pian, who is this gentleman?"

"Hehe, this is my cousin, a technician at Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill. He came to see me today, so I brought him over for a couple of drinks," Grandpa Pian said with a smile, his lie flowing naturally.

"Dongxu, this is Xu Huizhen, the private manager of this tavern. She's a real powerhouse in our area," Pian'erye introduced to Gao Dongxu.

"Hello, Sister Xu," Gao Dongxu said with a smile.

"Hello, you're so young and promising, and you look so energetic. Please come again soon." Xu Huizhen was delighted to be called "sister" by Gao Dongxu, her smile became even brighter, and her eyes sparkled with admiration as she glanced at Gao Dongxu a few more times.

"Okay." Gao Dongxu looked at the shrewd and cunning young woman in front of him and nodded with a smile.

"Alright, shopkeeper, give me four ounces of Niulanshan liquor first, then a plate of small sausages..." Master Pian ordered three more side dishes to go with his drinks.

"Four ounces, please take this—" Xu Huizhen smiled as she handed a pot of wine to Master Pian, "Please, both of you, have a seat. The dishes will be served shortly—"

With a smile, Pian'erye took the wine pot and two small wine cups and led Gao Dongxu to sit down at the nearby large square table.

Soon, Xu Huizhen brought three side dishes to the table. "That's all. Please enjoy your drinks. Let me know if you need more."

"Okay, thank you." Gao Dongxu smiled and looked at Xu Huizhen's radiant smile. He couldn't help but think of the priceless Tianhuang stone that was used to pickle vegetables in the pickling jar in her backyard, as well as the paintings by Su Shi, Xu Beihong, and Huang Binhong hanging on the wall.

These are all good items, but unfortunately, Xu Huizhen is too shrewd and doesn't know how to sell them.

However, she could try it after she loses money in business. As for quietly 'taking' it, that's too despicable. There are plenty of good things in this world now, so there's no need for that.

Just as Gao Dongxu and Pian'erye were drinking and chatting about their experiences in Beijing, the tavern started to get crowded.

It must be said that Gao Dongxu listened with great interest to the stories of heroes in Beijing told by Pian'erye. He learned about which family's ancestors were from the Eight Banners, which family had once been wealthy, and how they had fallen on hard times. All of this was information that Gao Dongxu would use to search for old houses in the future.

"Uncle, do you know where the descendants of Yangshi Lei are now?" Gao Dongxu thought of the Zhang Family Ancient Building and the future construction of his manor, and couldn't help but inquire about the descendants of Yangshi Lei.

"I'm not really sure about that. What, are you planning to hire them to clean the house?" Pian'er shook his head and asked in a low voice.

"Well, Uncle, I usually enjoy tinkering with old things, and I was thinking they might have some old items," Gao Dongxu said frankly without hiding anything.

"You like old things? Then you should find Grandpa Niu... Hey, speak of the devil, Grandpa Niu—" At this moment, Grandpa Pian'er saw a typical Beijing old man with a big, fat body walk in.

"What's up? Drinking so early today?" Old Niu said with a smile to Old Pian. When he saw Gao Dongxu, who had stood up with Old Pian and was smiling, his eyes lit up. He looked Gao Dongxu up and down and said with a smile, "Good young man—"

"Dongxu, call him Master Niu—"

"Uncle Niu—" Gao Dongxu called out with a smile.

Grandpa Niu nodded with a broad smile. He had a very good impression of Gao Dongxu. Having seen countless people, he was certain from Gao Dongxu's spirit, posture, and demeanor that the young man before him was a trained martial artist. "Grandpa Niu, this is a distant cousin. I'm preparing to return to the Northeast, so I asked him to look after the house for me. I hope you'll take good care of him in the future." It must be said that he was truly committed to ensuring Gao Dongxu could smoothly take over the courtyard house.

Old Niu's eyes lit up, and he looked at Pian'er with a half-smile. He knew Pian'er very well and immediately guessed what the two were up to. He chuckled and said, "Sure, sure—"

"Shopkeeper, give me two taels—" Master Niu turned to Xu Huizhen and smiled.

"Alright—Uncle Niu, here's your wine—"

"Uncle Niu, please have a seat. My nephew here likes to tinker with old things. He was just asking me about the descendants of the Yangshi Lei family. I was just saying that if we wanted to find the descendants of the Yangshi Lei family, we would have to ask you, and here you are..." Uncle Pian said with a smile.

Niu Ye's eyes lit up as he looked at Gao Dongxu, who was still smiling, and asked, "You also like collecting? What kind of things?"

"I'm just learning, I don't have any particular preference, I collect all sorts of things, and the little salary I earn goes mostly to supporting my family and other old objects," Gao Dongxu said modestly with a smile.

"Oh." Old Niu smiled and took a jade thumb ring from his pocket, handing it to Gao Dongxu. "Take a look—"

Gao Dongxu knew that Master Niu was testing him, to see his level. Feeling the coolness of the white jade thumb ring and looking at the poem inscribed on it, he looked at Master Niu and said, "This is a white jade thumb ring with an inscription by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. It is a top-quality thumb ring."

"Hehe, good eye." Master Niu nodded and smiled, taking back the jade thumb ring. He looked at Gao Dongxu and asked with a smile, "You're inquiring about the descendants of the Yangshi Lei family?"

"Yes, I really like ancient architecture and would like to see if I can collect some books or blueprints," Gao Dongxu said frankly.

"Hehe, you really have run into this. As far as I know, back then, after the descendants of the Lei family lost their jobs, instead of making progress, they took the design drawings they made for the royal family and put them up for sale on the market. These drawings attracted the attention of the Cultural Foundation. In the end, in 1930, the Lei family sold most of the 'Yangshi Lei' drawings to the Beiping Library for 4500 silver dollars."

Now, the Lei brothers have once again set their sights on the remaining drawings, but at this time, since those drawings are neither edible nor drinkable, no one cares about them at all.

If you really want it, those brothers will be ecstatic. You don't even need to contact them; as soon as they hear the news, they'll bring the files right to your door.

Upon hearing this, Gao Dongxu was overjoyed. He knew that any blueprint from the Yangshi Lei family in later generations would be highly sought after and worth a fortune.

"Please pass on a message, sir, I'd like to meet the Lei brothers," Gao Dongxu said hastily as he poured wine for Master Niu.

"No problem, we'll have news this afternoon," Master Niu said with a smile, raising his glass in a promise.

"Thank you, it's fine, I'll treat you to a drink," Gao Dongxu said with a smile.

"Alright, I'm waiting to drink your wine—" Niu Ye smiled and raised his glass to clink with Gao Dongxu and Pian'er Ye.

The drinking session was very enjoyable, mainly due to the conversation between Pian'er Ye and Niu Ye, which was full of Beijing humor, like a crosstalk performance, making everyone laugh continuously.

And Gao Dongxu, he also became well-known in the Zhengyangmen area, being the cousin of the neighborhood boss.

It must be said that Master Niu is indeed a man of integrity in old Beijing. He is amiable, loyal, generous, bold, and upright. When he says there will be news in the afternoon, he really does deliver on his promise.

Around four o'clock in the afternoon, Master Niu led the two Lei brothers directly to Master Pian'er's courtyard with a flatbed tricycle loaded with blueprints and hot-stamping patterns, delivering the goods to his door.

Looking at the flatbed cart piled high with blueprints and patterns, almost a meter high, Gao Dongxu felt both happy and conflicted.

These are all precious national architectural treasures, yet they are simply bundled up and treated like waste paper.

Gao Dongxu warmly invited the Lei brothers and Uncle Niu into the house, brewed tea, and chatted for a while. Afterward, the Lei brothers asked for fifty yuan and ten jin of grain coupons and left happily.

Furthermore, they promised to continue helping Gao Dongxu collect these drawings and patterns from other relatives.

Gao Dongxu was not the only one who felt this way; even Master Niu shook his head and sighed as he left, "There's no one to carry on the family legacy..."

After seeing Master Niu off, Gao Dongxu closed the door and quickly stored all the blueprints and patterns away in his storage space for protection. These treasures could no longer withstand the elements.

In the following days, Gao Dongxu did not leave No. 95 Courtyard, busy preparing for the New Year.

On New Year's Eve, red lanterns, firecrackers, children playing, and white steam rising from every house...

Gao Dongxu spent his first Spring Festival in the courtyard house. To celebrate, he specially brought out a set of bright red underwear and red socks for Qin Huairu to change into, so that they could have a really good New Year!
(End of this chapter)